Admissions A-Z - Taught Postgraduate(not including PGCE)

These sections are listed in alphabetical order.

Accommodation

Information on any accommodation support that can be offered to you can be found on the Student Housing Services website.

Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC)

Masters applicants whose courses come under the remit of the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC website) may be eligible to apply to the AHRC for funding. Applicants should note that the University can only support applications of the highest quality and can only submit a limited number of applications to the AHRC. Potential applicants should discuss their plans with the award leader at the earliest possible opportunity and should only proceed with an application to the AHRC with the support of the relevant award leader.

Please note that if you wish to apply for AHRC funding, you will need to ensure that you make your MA application to BSU before the end of February.

Contact hours

This is a minimum of six hours per week for full-time students and three hours per week for part-time students. We do not offer short courses in the evening. Lectures and other contact time normally takes place during the day, however there may be evening lectures for some courses and weekend workshops. You will be provided with your timetable prior to starting the course. Please contact the course leader for more information about modules and when they are taught.

Course date information

A sheet containing the course dates for all courses can be printed from the Registry website. Please be aware that Masters enrolment and teaching usually begins during the first week in October, the week after undergraduate induction week.

Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) Enhanced Disclosure

Applicants for courses or modules that involve contact with children or vulnerable adults will be required to submit CRB Enhanced Disclosure applications. Frequently asked questions (and answers!) about CRB can be found here 

Deadlines

Please aim to apply before mid-April for heavily subscribed courses. We cannot guarantee consideration of your application after this time. If you are applying for AHRC funding, please see 'AHRC' above.

Disabilities

If you have a disability, please see our Disability Statement

Entry requirements

Please consult the individual course pages for details on our entry requirements. If you do not hold a first degree you may be required to provide additional supporting evidence.

Equivalent or Lower Qualifications (ELQ)

Applicants who already hold an MA/MSc, or higher will still pay standard fees for the course. This is in accordance with BSU policy which can be found on the Registry website.

Fee information

This can be found on the Finance department web pages.

Feedback

If your application has not been successful and you would like feedback, please contact the course leader directly.

Funding (non AHRC)

Please see the 'Money Matters' web pages for more information on this.

How to apply

Applicants for our taught postgraduate courses can either download an application form from the BSU postgraduate course web pages or request an application form from admissions@bathspa.ac.uk.

How to find us

Directions on how to reach our campuses can be found on our website:

• General maps and directions
• Newton Park Campus map
• Sion Hill Campus map

International applicants

If you are applying for an undergraduate course, please ensure that you check with UK NARIC (the UK National Recognition Information Centre) whether or not your qualification is equivalent to a UK degree. Please contact admissions@bathspa.ac.uk if you would like clarification. Please also ensure that when you complete the application form, you state your actual qualification titles, not the UK qualifications you think they are equivalent to. It is also possible that you will be asked to send a copy of the transcript of your qualifications. We aim to make a decision on your application within three days of receipt but this very much depends on you submitting a complete application form and whether or not the course for which you have applied requires interview or audition attendance.

If you are applying for a course that usually requires attendance at interview (please see 'What to expect at interview - Postgraduate') then you may be invited to attend if you would like to. We understand that this isn't easy for you so we would accept a recording or portfolio instead and would provide you with details of what we would require. Online portfolios (in the form of MySpace, YouTube pages etc.) would be preferable and quicker to process, although CDs and DVDs are usually acceptable.

If we decide to offer you a place, and if there is any indication on your application that you may be a full-fee paying student, the offer may be based on this assumption. This is so that we are able to process your application as quickly as possible. In the meantime, your application will be viewed for an evaluation to be made on your fee status by our Fee Status Assessment Team. If there is insufficient information on your application for such an evaluation to be made, you will be sent a fee status assessment questionnaire. Either way, once an evaluation has been made we will be able to amend the condition of your offer if necessary.

Please read our English Language Requirement Policy to find out more about whether or not your English qualifications meet our entry requirements. You will need to have IELTS 7.0, or equivalent, for MA Creative Writing, MA Writing for Young People, MA Scriptwriting and MA Literature and Landscape and IELTS 6.5, or equivalent, for our other MA courses.

Please be aware that we are required to take a copy of your passport and visa at the point of enrolment. Further information about the new tier 4 visa system for non-EU students entering the UK can be found on the UK Border Agency website.

More information regarding fees, the international deposit and visas can be found here

Also, you might find this website useful to you - it has some very good information about studying in the UK: http://www.ukcisa.org.uk/student/information_sheets.php

Interviews

Interviews are part of the selection process for the majority of our MA courses and take the form of an informal, 30 minute discussion of your experience and the work you submit as part of your application. Telephone interviews are usually possible for overseas applicants. Please see the What to expect at interview - Postgraduate page for further information. Please, however, be aware that we may not send letters inviting you to attend an interview, but may communicate this to you by email (unless you have not provided an email address on your application). Please, therefore, always check your junk mail box in case our email has appeared there by mistake!

Open days and events

These are run by our Marketing department. For more information, please check the Open Days and events website.

Processing time for applications

Applications are then sent to the course leader who will make a decision on whether to interview you. The decision-making process begins in the January/February of the year of entry, so if you apply before that time, you may not be contacted until then. After January/February you should receive a decision, or an invitation to interview, within one month of your application being received. Please be aware, however, that if you have applied for a heavily subscribed course, the process is likely to take longer than this.

If you are required to attend an interview, we aim to contact you at least two weeks in advance of this date. All decisions are communicated to candidates by letter or email.

More information on interviews for the MA courses can be found on the 'What to expect at interview - Postgraduate' page.

References

There is space on the application form for you to provide the names and contact details of two referees. Please be aware that you should include the actual reference from one of these referees with your application form. This should be provided in a sealed envelope with the referee's signature across the seal.

Registration and enrolment

In early September we write to all new students with information about induction week as well as joining instructions and information on how to register. Registration is done online, from the comfort of a home environment, via our Student Portal and should be completed before you first arrive at BSU. Once you arrive, you will need to enrol onto the course and for this you will need to provide your student number (which you will be issued via the Student Portal when you register) and some photographic identification. You will also need to provide qualification certificates.

Support

Information about how we can support your needs, regarding disability, welfare, health or financial concerns, can be found on our Student Support Services pages.

Student Portal

The student portal is an interactive website that allows us to communicate and collect information from applicants and new students. It can be used throughout your time at BSU for updating address details and registration for each year of study.

Submission of work to support your application

Please ensure that you include a submission of an example of your work with your application form. Details on what we require are currently provided on individual course application forms.

Taught Postgraduate Framework

This is a very important document that you should become familiar with: Taught Postgraduate Framework Document (.pdf).

When should I apply?

Please aim to apply before mid-April for heavily subscribed courses. We cannot guarantee consideration of your application after this time. If you are applying for AHRC funding, please see 'AHRC' above.

When will we contact you?

If you are made an offer, you will be asked to confirm acceptance. Details on how to register for the course will be sent to you in September.